obama administration officials crack open the door to middle-class tax hikes. and the white house tries to slam it shut. mixed messages and a growing threat. will president obama's tax pledge come back to bite him? also, terror suspects in america's heartland. could guantanamo detainees wind up in kansas or michigan? controversy grows as the administration struggles to figure out an end game for the notorious camp. and the white house said to have to twist arms to get some television networks to air the president's most recent prime-time news conference. his fourth since taking office. howard kurtz of our "reliable sources" is here with the inside story. wolf blitzer is off today. i'm suzanne malveaux in cnn's command center for breaking news, politics, and extraordinary reports from around the world. you're in "the situation room."

a massive deficit, a giant stimulus package, bailouts and how a health care overhaul. how does the country pay for all of this? during the campaign, candidate obama promised it wouldn't be with new taxes on the middle class, but two of the top economic officials now appear to be leaving the door open. cnn white house correspondent dan lothian joins us. and, dan, obviously, there was a lot of back and forth we saw in that briefing today. what was the bottom line here? >> reporter: there really was. and the bottom line is, first of all, he said it's easier to tax the rich and get away with it. in fact, the polls show that most americans don't have a problem with it. but if you go after the middle class, well that becomes controversial. so, today, the white house was really trying to clean things up after bit after two officials seemed to suggest that the middle class was not immune from becoming a target. the president's two top money men may have a good grip on all the numbers but their words may have gone off script. >> i think they allowed themselves to get into a little bit of a hypothetical back and

forth. >> that's the clarification made of treasury secretary timothy geithner and economic adviser larry summers on the sunday morning talk shows, the two seemingly leaving the door open to a middle-class tax hike in order to pay down the deficit and afford health care reform. >> never a good idea to absolutely rule things out no matter what. >> we'll do what it takes, whatever is necessary. >> spokesman robert gibbs again stressed the president's xwhitment to not raise taxes on americans making less than $250,000 a year. >> there's no -- there's no real scenario there as the administration sees it where middle-class taxpayers might be hit with a hike? there's no scenario right now -- >> the president's been very clear. >> the president during the campaign, he is clear about that commitment and he's going to keep it. i don't know how much more clear about the commitment i can be. >> on the campaign trail, mr. obama drew a line in the sand. >> you will not see your taxes

increased by a single dime, not your income tax, not your payroll tax, not your capital gains tax -- no tax. >> whether geithner and summers were testing the temperature by leaving the door open, gibbs said, i don't know. he did say that during a meeting with his top economic advisers the president reiterated his position on middle-class taxes so there would be no confusion. on the senate floor, republican senator lamar alexander said that he thinks that they were reprimanded and he believes that it's misleading for this administration to say that they can do all these things including health care reform without hitting the middle class. suzanne? >> all right, dan. thank you so much. we are counting down the second 100 days of the obama administration, and this thursday night we'll issue a new national report card on the president. what kind of grades is he earning? you can cast your vote right now. you go to cnn.com/reportcard and get the results thursday night

at 8:00 eastern. the president is touting changes to the g.i. bill that offer expanded benefits to people who serve at least three years in the military after the 9/11 terror attacks. up to a full scholarship at any state university or they can transfer it to family members. the president calls it an investment in america. >> all our discourse produced more heat than light, especially in washington, but they have put their very lives on the line for america. they've borne the responsibility of war. and now with this policy, we are making it clear that the united states of america has responsibility and not irresponsibility. now with this policy we are letting those who have borne the heaviest burden lead us into the 21st century. >> republican senator john mccain says he'll be voting against judge sonia sotomayor's appointment to the supreme court. just a short time ago, on the

senate floor, he said, she has an excellent resume and an inspiring life story, but also a record he simply cannot support. >> though she attempted to walk back from her long public record of judicial activism during her confirmation hearings, judge sotomayor cannot change her record. in a 199 6 article in suffolk university law review, she stated, quote, a given judge of judges may develop a novel approach to a specific set of facts or legal framework that pushes the law in a new direction. it is exactly this view that i disagree with. >> the senate is expected to vote on sotomayor's nomination this week. terror suspects in america's heartla heartland, could the next guantanamo be located in kansas?

jeanne meserve is joining us live to answer that question. what do we know about the future of these detainees? >> reporter: well, suzanne, as you know, the administration is still wrestling with a very difficult question on what to do with detainees when the present guantanamo is closed. one option under consideration -- housing them and trying them under one roof. the possibility that guantanamo detainees might be headed for the military prison at ft. leavenworth has kansas officials in an uproar. >> transferring terror suspects here places a bull's-eye on this community. >> people don't want them here. >> reporter: administration officials say ft. leavenworth and the maximum-security prison in standish, michigan, are being considered as possible multipurpose destinations for detainees that could contain courtrooms for both federal criminal trials and military commissions and house in one place detainees now being sorted into three groups. those being held for trial, those being indefinitely

detained, and those cleared for release but without a country to take them. in standish, michigan, where the unemployment rate stands at 24%, the maximum-security prison is slated for closure. some local officials support using it as a detainee facility to preserve jobs. but michigan congressman pete hooksford disagrees, saying turning michigan into a terrorist penal colony is not the way to improve the economic situation. for now, the white house is dodging the argument. >> well, i don't know the degree to to which they've gotten into specific sites and certainly no final decisions of any sort have been made. >> reporter: housing most of the detainees at one location could reduce costs and avoid the risk of moving suspects for trial. on the other hand, moving prosecutors and judges and forming a jury pool could be a challenge but probably nowhere near the challenge of overcominging local opposition.

suzanne, back to you. >> thank you, jeanne. secretary of state hillary clinton says she is concerned about three american hikers believed to be detained by iran. they were traveling in iraq's kurdistan region last week when they apparently crossed into the unmarked boarder into iran and were surrounded by iranian soldiers. clinton says she is asking swiss diplomats who represent u.s. interests in iran to find out more. >> we want this matter brought to a resolution as soon as possible, and we call on the iranian government to help us determine the whereabouts of the three missing americans and return them as quickly as possible. >> we'll have much more on the case of these three americans believed held in iran here in "the situation room." well, jack cafferty is in new york. and jack, great to see you for "the cafferty file." what are you following? >> likewise, suzanne. good to see you. all the -- all the places in the

world to go hiking, who picks the border between iran and iraq? oh, let's go hiking. i know a perfect place. popular cash for clunkers program is out of cash, and its fate now lies in the hands of the senate. the initial pool for rebates to trade in gas guzzlers was a billion dollars. the obama administration says it'll end the program next week if they don't get more money. last week, the house voted for an additional $2 billion. the senate has yet to take up the matter this week. so far, the cash for clunkers program has led to the sale of 250,000 now vehicles. it helped bring ford its first monthly sales increase in two years. the administration says 62% of the traded in vehicles are trucks, and people are replacing those with cars that get better gas mileage. the former chairman of the federal reserve, alan greenspan, says car and truck building was rebounding even before cash for clunkers started, but he adds

that the extraordinary response shows the confidence in the economy is starting to pick up now. meanwhile, republicans are asking how the government will be able to handle massive health care reform if they can manage a smaller-scale program like this. senator jim demint, one of the president's tougher critics these days, says it's an example of the, quote, stupidity coming out of washington right now, unquote. and senator john mccain said he would lead a filibuster against the bill for the additional $2 billion. other critics say the rebates are mostly helping out middle class this people who would have eventually bought a new car anyway. the question is this -- go to cnn.com/caffertyfile and post a comment on any blog. it's a program the government came up with that's working, suzanne. it's rare. >> a chance to talk to the secretary of transportation, ray lahood, later this hour to talk about the details.

>> he was on last week. very excited about the cash for clunkers program. i'm looking forward to the interview with him today. >> we'll seal how he feels about it today. thanks, jack. new signs the worst of the recession may be fading, but have we bottomed out? former federal reserve chairman alan greenspan is speaking out about the country's worst economic crisis since the great depression. also, a nightmare that lasted almost two decades finally ends for the family of the pilot shot down at the beginning of the gulf war. and should the government spend billions more for the so-called cash for clunkers program?

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wall street rallies encouraging economic indicators, a housing market that appears to be improving. they're all generating buzz that the recession may be fizzling and the economy is turning around. well, if it is, why? even former federal reserve chairman alan greenspan sounds optimistic. >> i'm pretty sure we've already seen the bottom. in fact, if you look at the weekly production figures for various different industries, it's clear that we've turned perhaps in the middle of last month, the middle of july. >> joining me now is cnn chief business correspondent ali velshi, and ali, tell us, what is greenspan talking about here? >> he's talking about different industries, suzanne. it's not across the board. but there are turns in industries. look at that stock market. we've seen gains there, seen

housing prices stabilize. we're still seeing jobs being lost. but there's a general consensus that things are improving, and it's important to understand why so that we can keep on doing whatever's been working and not do the things that aren't working. let's take a little snapshot back under this economy and what's happened so we can understand who or what gets the credit for a recoverying economy. go back to december of 2007, when this recession began. businesses and consumers started pulling back on their spending. as you pull back, that means there's less work for people to do, they get laid off, those people don't spend and it multiplies. accelerate to the fall of 2008 when we saw the collective lehman brothers, aig, a complete credit freeze. the recession suddenly went from what one economist told me was a garden-variety recession to a jungle-variety recession. that's when we saw those various bailouts. we saw t.a.r.p., but in addition to that, we also saw the federal reserve putting trillions of dollars into the economy to make credit available. all right. fast forward from last fall to this spring. and now you start to see the

effect of all that money that the government put into the system. now we're back to a normal or garden-variety recession, the business cycle is doing what it does. prices continue to drop for homes, for loans, for things like that, and it becomes inexpensive for people to start to buy things. and now you're seeing an economy by about march or so that's starting to bottom out, perhaps. you're definitely seeing marks bottoming out and that's where we are now. you're seeing the effect of an economy and market that's been bottoming out for a couple months. we might start to see this turnaround, as greenspan says, this summer. maybe it's started or maybe in the next month or so. >> ali, can the obama administration take credit for the uptick? >> you know, a number of economists i spoke to said probably not yet. they may be able to take credit if this economy recovers in a very robust way in the next year or so, but largely what's happened so far is more of an effect of these various bailouts that we saw in the fall of 2008, getting this recession back to a

normal garden-variety recession and recessions in the end do actually conclude and start to turn around. it may be a little early for the obama administration to be taking credit for this. this isn't the effect of stimulus that was passed in the spring. suzanne? okay, ali. sounds like things are turning around a little bit. good news. >> yeah. >> thanks. a nightmare that lasted almost two decades for the family of a missing american fighter pilot has finally ended with the positive identifications of the remains of captain scott speicher, shot down over iraq on the first night of the gulf war. chris lawrence is joining us. chris, what is the latest about this story? >> reporter: well, suzanne, the family tells us they expect to get a classified briefing from the military either today or tomorrow. but this discovery only answers some of their questions, not all of them. captain scott speicher's children were toddlers the day he disappeared. a nearly 20-year mystery.

was he captured? tortured? all this time the answer was buried in the iraqi sand and solved by a single tip. >> it's a bittersweet ending. i mean, it's great that we have finally accomplished an ending. but it is bittersweet. >> reporter: last month, an iraqi citizen told american troops about the crash site. when the marines arrived, another iraqi said he was there when bedouins found captain speicher, already dead and buried his body. searching the site, u.s. troops found multiple skeletal fragments and bones. and when military investigators compared captain speicher's dental records with the recovered jawbone, it was him. >> the whole family is just so grateful that the navy stayed on this. >> reporter: but the military made mistakes, starting hours after speicher was shot down, when the pentagon declared him dead. >> the total u.s. losses are one aircraft and one individual. >> the pentagon has identified a

united states navy pilot as apparently the first u.s. serviceman missing in action in the persian gulf war. >> reporter: some of the military thought speicher had ejected and might still be alive. in 1994, they proposed a secret mission to survey the crash site, but according to senior defense officials in the room, chairman of the joint chiefs, general john cash vili, scrubbed the plan and said, quote, i do not want to have to write the parents and tell them their son or daughter died looking for old bones. in 2001, the pentagon changed his status to missing in action, and there were accusations he was being held captive by saddam hussein. after the invasion of iraq, somebody found speicher's initials scratched into the wall of an iraqi prison, and investigators even excavated a grave site in baghdad, but it was not him. now the vigils can end. but one fact remains -- >> we walked away from a downed pilot. it was done by mistakingly declaring him dead, and they

they didn't go and search for him. and that was a mistake, and that is very important that we never repeat that mistake again. >> reporter: the speicher family says they appreciate all the navy and marines who never gave up and kept searching all those years, but they've still got to be wondering at some point, is there any chance that he survived that crash even for a little while. suzanne? >> sure. thanks, chris. and also, want to let you know our cnn's john zarrella is in florida, getting reaction from the pile's family. we'll bring more of that to you later in "the situation room." as a candidate, he vowed not to raise taxes on the middle class. now as president, he's facing some tough choices. what if mr. obama is forced to break his promise? we'll talk about the potential fallout in our "strategy session." plus, the house republican leader sends a video message to the president about health care reform. he calls it a lighthearted attempt to make a serious point. d

brianna keilar is monitoring the stories that are coming into "the situation room" right now. brianna, what are you following? >> reporter: suzanne, a presentation and embrace, and

iranian president mahmoud ahmadinejad secures the support he needs to be sworn in for a second term wednesday. ayatollah ali khamenei, iran's supreme leader, allowed ahmadinejad to come in in a special ceremony today. it did nothing to dissway protesters of the national election. more layoffs loom for general motors' workers. the beleaguered automaker fell far short of its goals to secure early retirements or buyouts for about 13,500 employees. a report today shows that about 6,000 workers have taken the latest round of deals. that's short roughly 7,500 factory workers. gm has announced that it would close 15 factories employing 22,000 workers by the end of 2012. prosecutors in new york say a grand jury has indicted giants wide receiver plaxico burress on weapons charges. they say the 31-year-old burress faces two counts of criminal

possession of a weapon and one count of reckless endangerment. burress shot himself in the thigh at a nightclub in november, you'll probably recall. the gun was unlicensed. the new york giants were unable to dodge this. >> thanks, brianna. president obama has a fair amount of tv prime time in his first six months, and it's starting to gray on the big networks. how is this president getting so much more face time than his predecessors? network executives say his number-one guy in the white house is bringing extra pressure to bear. and the rolling hills of idaho.

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you're in "the situation room." happening now -- more cash for clunkers is in the hopper in the house. but it could hit the skids in the senate. we'll ask transportation secretary ray lahood about the prospects for the wildly popular car by that program.

michael jackson's mother secures custody of the king of pop's children. she now want assay in what happens to his estate. and if you thought alligators were florida's creepiest predator, well, think again. they're on the lookout in the sunshine state for giant pythons. i'm suzanne malveaux and you're in "the situation room." health care reform is an especially thorny issue for the so-called blue dog democrats, fiscal conservatives, some of who represent various conservative districts. john king headed west for an up-close look at the blue dog dilemma. >> reporter: the consensus health care debate of recent weeks you've heard from voices familiar and some not. democrat leaders in the house and senate, republican lead irs in the house and senate and of course president obama and his advisers. but you've probably heard the term blue-dog democrat.

individually, most are not so influential, but together their more conservative voices are proving pivotal in how to pay for health care changes. so, what's a blue dog? let's take a look. these are the states represented by at least one member in a congressional delegation who calls himself a blue dog. you see them. take a peek in here. there are 52 members of the blue-doll coalition. they represent those 29 states we just showed you. 32 of these members, this is important, represent districts won by republican john mccain in 2008. so, in our american dispatch this week, we wanted to take a closer look. look here, western idaho, the blue congressional district, the first congressional district. we wanted to look at the blue dogs who have to balance their party's call for major health care reforms with a constituency that doesn't like big spending and doesn't trust big government. western idaho is, in a word, spectacular. rolling hills filled with golden

grain. breathtaking forests. shimmering lakes. and tiny towns like st. mary's, built around the mines and mills and anchored by places where everyone is on a first-name basis, and everyone thinks business and the government should put a premium on the bottom line. >> it's difficult to be a liberal in this neck of the woods. >> reporter: she's a proud democrat but knows from the lively conversations in her restaurant she's in the minority, especially the recent debate over what to do about health care. >> i come from british parents. they taught me that socialized government is not a bad thing that everybody purports it to be. i think that the government needs to take over health care. >> reporter: st. mary's is in a timber region where john mccain won by a nearly 2 to 1 margin last november. cheryl is the county democratic

chairwoman. >> we're westerners. and westerners are more independent. this is a hunting and fishing place. people don't want to give up their guns. so, we tend to be more self-reliant or think everyone should be more fiscally conservative. >> reporter: for only the third time in 40 years the local congressman is a democrat, one of those words who adds the words "blue dog" to his party affiliation. >> it means someone who thinks realistically and pragmatically about spending. i think blue -dog democrats see their constituents more realistically than the real strong liberals. >> reporter: to visit a place like this is to see the blue-dog dilemma up close. >> you know, years ago i voted for reagan, even though i thought he was too liberal. >> reporter: he applauds minnick and fellow blue dogs who claim it gives government too much power.

but he won't reward the democrat with his vote because he wants the house back in republican hands. >> if he doesn't change his party, there's no way i can vote democrat because right now they have control of the house. that's what's killing america. >> reporter: and across the table, psychologist and proud liberal patricia bower has reservations of a different sort. >> i'm concerned about him being too conservative. i am happy that he's watch iing the numbers because i think we need to do that. but i'm concerned that fiscally responsible becomes a nay vote for health care. >> university of idaho political science professor brian mcquade says it is a near impossible balancing act, blue-dog label or not. >> the district is very republican. much of the republican is solid red in terms of the blue and red america. obama is going to be an issue.

>> and she disagrees when her congressman fights plans for a health care option. >> i employ 25 people here, and most of them do not have insurance. >> reporter: and you can't afford to give it to them. >> i can't afford to give it to them. >> reporter: but she understands the blue-dog rationale. loggers and fellas who work in the timber industry are pretty right winged, and the way he thinks is pretty typical of most moderate, be it republicans or democrats in this area. he needs to do that, because that's what it's going to take. >> as lawmakers head home for the august recess, they'll be getting an earful from constituents fired up over health care reform. wonder what democrat congressman lloyd dogetof texas thinks. >> just say no! just say no!

>> cnn's senior political analyst, gloria borger, is here. pictures amazing, you see the kind of pressure some of the lawmakers are under. what do you think is the impact of having this august reses, this whole month for the white house, for lobbyists to really push forward on health care reform? >> you know, the other week i met with rahm emanuel, the white house chief of staff weather a bunch of reporters and asked him that question. he said, well, there's both peril and opportunity in having this bill out there for the month of august. i know what the peril. i'm not sure what the opportunity is for the white house. but the peril is it gives the opposition, as you saw in that clip, the opportunity to mobilize their forces. so, take a listen to what house minority leader john boehner left as a present for democrats. a little bit of an ad he's going to be running. >> i'm not a doctor, but i play one on tv.

if your child has a cough, she gets what the doctor ordered. >> i'd make a lot more money if i took this kid's tonsils out. >> i'm not a doctor. >> if there's a blue pill and a red pill and the blue pill is half the price of the red pill and works just as well, why not pay half price? >> i'm not a doctor, but i play one on tv. >> maybe you're better off not having the surgery -- >> you know, it's clear that this ad is trying to make the case that the government's going to dispense your medical care, and again, making the case that republicans are making that the obama plan, such as it is, is a risky experiment. >> and i imagine the white house taking a look at that, the latest ad there, scratching their heads, wondering what do but go next? in watching and talking to rahm emanuel, how has s the white house strategy changing in its approach? >> you can see it. it's clear their approach has changed because when the president first started talking about health care reform, it was all about money. it was all about the fact that

it was going to help reduce the deficit. that really didn't have any resonance out there with the american people. so, now they're down to a plan b, and the plan b is take on the insurance lobby. that's always easy to do. but it's different for white house because of course they've been courting insurance groups. and the real sticking point is that the white house supports a public plan, the insurance industry does not, along with lots of those conservative democrats that john king was talking about. >> so, we'll see a lot more ads, a lot more folks out there that can -- >> we are. we are. i spoke with the chief lobbyist for the insurance industry. she says they're going to continue to run their high-road ad, which says that they're for reform, but they're going to get their people out there at town hall meetings to question the obama plan. >> all right. gloria, thank you so much. >> sure. do television executives see president obama as not good enough for prime time? howard kurtz of "reliable

sources" looks at the pressure it took to get some of the networks to carry the president's news conference. also, john mccain speaks out about the resignation of his former running mate. what does he think of sarah palin stepping down as alaska governor? plus, growing concern over three american hikers. quality and reliability... are more than words here. it's personal. i have diabetes. rodney's kid too. so we're so proud to manufacture... the accu-chek® aviva meters and test strips...

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prime-time presidential news conferences used to be rare, but not so in the obama era. since taking the oath of office in january, president obama has held four nighttime news conferences. that's how many former president george w. bush held during his entire eight years in office. former president bill clinton

also had a total of four. president george h.w. bush held only two during his four-year term. washington's host media reporter howard kurtz also of cnn's "reliable sources" writes in today's edition that the networks complain they were pressured by white house chief of staff rahm emanuel into giving up costly air time for president obama's most recent newser. joining me now is howard kurtz. obviously, rahm's involved in a lot of things but he was also very much involved in this, as well. tell us what you know. >> there's always a gap in the white house and the networks of giving up the air time. rahm emanuel went over the heads of the network journalists and called bob eiger, disney, abc, jeff immelt from nbc and less moonves who runs the cbs corporation. they were reluctant to give up that time because they lose advertising money and cnn executives also pushed back. it was going to start at 9:00,

when the "black in america" series 2 was going to air. >> is the president going to the well too often here? is he asking too much of his networks? what do you think? >> well, everybody knows that the ratings are down from when this was a novelty the beginning of the term. 24 million viewers last time, 54% less than the first time obama held a prime-time news conference. we see the president constantly on tv, with jay leno, espn, "60 minutes" twice, t "day in the life" and others. there is a sense even among supporters maybe they're using that too often. if he's on every day or every hour, that's a bit too much. >> whoi don't the networks say no? >> i think they might in the future. they have made very clear they are frustrated, some of the executives, with the white house. they're kind of presented with a date and a time. $40 million is my estimate of how much abc, cbs, nbc have lost in advertising revenue during these four news conferences. if the white house keeps up this pace, a couple of these networks

might follow the lead of the fox broadcast network and say not this time, mr. president. >> is there any concern from the networks they're not going to get the same kind of access to the president if they don't air these prime-time news conferences? they don't get that exclusive the next go-around or the big profile inside of the white house building? >> i don't know that the administration would be that heavy handled it's got to be a concern when there's so much competition to get this president, generally seen as good for ratings, on the air. you want your anchor to be there when he's making the rounds. and maybe they just don't want to risk it. at the same time, he's costing them money. >> what was that figure you mentioned? >> about $3 million to $5 million per show per hour every time you do a preemption. i didn't major in math, but at least $40 million in revenue in a very tough environment for the media. >> we'll see next time the white house decides to have a prime-time news conference what happens. >> we'll see. >> 200 days coming up on thursday. we'll see. thank you, howard. in the "strategy session," is it the obama white house

"read my lips" moment? >> reiterating the president's clear commitment in the clearest terms possible that he's not raising taxes on those who make less than $250,000 a year. >> but since president obama deliver on reform and not raise taxes? and transportation secretary reija l.a. hood is here in "the situation room" to explain why the cash for clunkers plan must go on.

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(voice 3) great exercise guys. let's run it again. now that sarah palin is out of the immediate political limelig limelight, the man who had her as his running mate has broken his silence and has supported her. is she a legitimate threat to democrats? joining me today, mo lathy and republican strategist trent duffy. glad to have you here. worked with both of you extensively over the years. let's take a look at senator john mccain over the weekend telling john king on "state of the union" exclusively his

reaction to sarah palin stepping down. >> sarah, i think, made clearly the best decision. i think she will continue to contribute. i think she will continue to be a force. and i just also continue to kind of be saddened by the fact that there's still such vicious attacks on her and her family. >> trent, i'm going to start with you. >> sure. >> do you believe sarah palin is a viable player in the political -- in the republican party? >> absolutely she is, because she's got a following, she's very well spoken. a lot of people do real i li like sarah palin. she's got a great grounds for a comeback, if you will, because she has tremendous interest for the american people, whether you like her or dislike her. there's a lot of interest in sarah palin. so, she has a very good foundation on which to build whatever she wishes to build. >> are the democrats equally interested in palin, a powerful palin? is she a real threat to the democrats? >> i think she clearly is a force in politics. i agree with trent. she has a following.

i think one of the challenges that the republican party has is that republican leaders like sarah palin, like rush limbaugh, are stealing all the headlines. they're the only ones articulating any sort of a coo co-herein message. i think it's the wrong people and one that the american people are rejecting and one democrats would be happy to go against, but until the new leadership finds a new coherent message they'll keep being in the spotlight. >> trent, do you agree she doesn't have a coherent message yet? what does she need to do? >> well, i think what she needs to do is go back and decide what she wants to do. i don't think any of us know. i don't know if she knows, honestly. but as i said earlier, she's got the grounds far foundation because she has a following and does have a voice and has legitimate interest. i disagree with mo. if you look at the messaging from a national stance, four to six weeks, they're pulling even. i don't disagree there are some lightning rods on conservative talk radio but i think the republican party is finding its

voice. >> mo, a lot of people -- well, a lot of her speech, rather, was all about the media and how she's been treated unfairly. do you think she has a legitimate beef there? >> i think there were times maybe during the campaign, early on, the focus on her family, the media and political opponents may have got gone a little too far. >> you agree with her. >> and focus on the family is always a tricky thing and something that we all should be careful about. i don't think we should be focusing on one's family. i do think, however, the focus on her qualifications, the focus on her readiness to lead, the focus on her policies were very much inbounds. >> do you think there's going to be a change in the way people approach her now? i mean -- >> i doubt it. i think she's going to continue to undergo that kind of intense scrutiny. and that could play to her advantage because americans love the underdog. >> one of the things we want to listen to, president obama, who was clearly the underdog for much of the campaign, made a campaign promise -- well, it's

true. i covered all this. but he made a pledge about taxes and the middle class and he was adamant bt it. obviously, there's a lot of discussion about that now. listen to what he said on the trail. >> under my plan, tax rates will actually be less than they were under ronald reagan. if you make less than $250,000 a year, you will not see your taxes increase one single dime. if you make less than $250,000 a year, you will not see your taxes increase one single dime, not your payroll taxes, not your income taxes, not your capital gains taxes. if you make under $250,000, you will not see your taxes increase by a single dime. not your income tax, not your payroll tax, not your capital gains tax, no tax. >> mo, do you get the point? there's a point that he's making

here. now, could this be, however, george h.w. bush, you know, no new taxes, read my lips came back to burn him. is he putting himself in a box here? what are the political implications if he cannot deliver on that pledge to have to raise taxes? >> i think the message hasn't changed, clearly. the white house signaled very, very strongly today that his commitment to not raising taxes on the middle class is as firm as it ever has been. and, you know, in the first month of his administration he gave 95% of the american people a tax cut. so, he's delivering on that promise. i do think, though, he's been incredibly dill dent jent looking for cost-saving measu measures, looking to stave american people money through health care reform and other reforms, military spending, as well. that will offset some of these clangs. look, the congress has a lot on their plate and they have to find a way to balance the books on this. but he can do it, i think. trent, is the president putting himself in a box here, backing himself in a corner? no politician wants to make an absolute at this point. >> he hasn't made an absolute.

he said for those making less than $250,000. but he himself -- i think you've noticed some changes in his own statements about this issue, even at his press conference, when asked about how to pay for health care, he said he didn't want something primarily funded by the middle class or completely funded by the middle class. you and i both know that sort of speaks for opening the door. national economic adviser and your treasury secretary going go on sunday television saying yes, we're open to middle-class tax increases, that's off message. >> the briefing today -- >> a lot of back and forth. i have to let it there. thank you, trent, mo. appreciate it. >> all right. well, it is a first for the army pap new ad campaign is unlike anything we've ever seen before. so, who is it targeting? plus, nascar runs into a detour on the road to the white house. so what do you think?

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on our political ticker, no nascar at the white house today. president obama was scheduled to honor a group of drivers including sprint cup champion are jimmie johnson. but they're racing tuesday after a one-day rain delay, so the event has been rescheduled. look for johnson's number 48 chevrolet to pull up at the white house august 19th. cropping up in the garden. according to reports, soil tests reveal elevated levels of lead. believed to be the result of sludge due to fertilizing the lawn during the clinton administration. although higher than normal, the lead level is still well within

federal safety standards. but the sludge means the garden cannot be classified as organic, a label the white house says it was never seeking. the national rifle association says former alaska governor sarah palin gave her first speech since leading office at an nra dinner in anchorage over the weekend. the news media were not invited but the nra says on its blog that palin gave what it called a stirring speech on second amendment rights. she also received an nra award and lifetime membership in several local gun clubs. jo and remember, for the latest political news anytime, check outcnnpolitics.com. hey, jack. a question this hour.

after all, unfortunately for michigan, it covered foreign makes of cars covered down south. why wouldn't be for stimulating the economy in their own back yard? or could it be they would slit their own throats now to thwart any progress. got to keep americans down. get ready for 2010. the only reason they don't like this one is they didn't think it up.

and buy something they probably don't need. not only that, many of those cars being destroyed could be resold to others or at least the parts could be resold. and russell in alaska -- the fact that these blow hards, talking about the senators, are even considering filibustering it is ridiculous. go to cnn.com/caffertyfile and look for your e-mail there among hundreds of others. iran is stone walling about the fate of three american hikers. how a tough diplomatic standoff may go from bad to worse. suddenly car sales are up, but the cash for clunkers

program is running out of cash. should congress keep the money flowing? we'll hear from does he recalls, car buyers, and the transportation secretary. plus, giant snakes weighing up to 200 pounds, strangling and eating whatever they catch. tens of thousands on the loose in florida. we'll take you into the everglades with a python hunter. wolf blitzer is off today. i'm suzanne malveaux and you're in "the situation room." the u.s. is urging iran to tell what it knows about three american hikers apparently detained after wandering over the iranian border from iraq. but so far, iran seems to be stone walling. we'll get the very latest from cnn's arwa damon in baghdad. >> reporter: suzanne, state department officials are saying that swiss diplomats were unable to obtain any information after meeting with iranian officials about the status and whereabouts of three americans who have gone

missing. they strayed into iran, according to kurdish officials, from iraq's kurdish north and are believed to be held by iranian security guards. the three americans were tourist backpackers, the type of people that like to wander off of the beaten path. and they were visiting northern iraq with a fourth friend of theirs, who stayed behind in sulaimaniya. the last the fourth friend heard from them came in the form of a phone call at 1:30 on friday where they said they were surrounded by iranian security guards. the information coming out of tehran or lack thereof it is rather disconcerting given that it is iranian television that was also reporting that these three had been detained by iranian security guards. everybody's scrambling at this point to figure out exactly what happened to these americans and how to make sure they get back home safely before this becomes an international incident. suzanne? >> thank you, arwa. protesters back in the streets of tehran today.

iran's government may have all it can handle right now, facing growing opposition at home and growing pressure from abroad. let's turn to cnn foreign affairs correspondent jill dougherty. jill, taking on three american detainees obviously can only complicate this really bad situation. >> reporter: absolutely, suzanne. you know, it things already were delicate enough between the united states and iran. and now add to the mix that unpredictable element of those tourists who may have strayed over the boarder into tehran. it couldn't happen at a worse time. iran's supreme leader officially endorses mahmoud ahmadinejad for a new term as president. but the postelection turmoil is complicating u.s. efforts to free three american tourists hiking near the iranian border now believed to be detained in that country. >> we want this matter brought to a resolution as soon as possible. and we call on the iranian

government to help us determine the whereabouts of the three missing americans and return them as quickly as possible. >> reporter: with no diplomatic relations between tehran and washington, the u.s. has to rely on the swiss ambassador as the go-between. while dealing with the fate of those americans, the obama administration is on a diplomatic high wire, balancing efforts to engage iran and working with its allies to pressure iran to give up its nuclear program. the state department says iran's political distraction makes that even harder. >> iran has its hand full right now. even today, you know, two days before the inauguration of the president, it still has not yet convinced its people that this is a legitimate government. >> reporter: but u.s. officials say patience is running out, and they're considering pushing for even tougher u.n. sanctions, including possibly banning gasoline imports to iran which,

despite being oil rich, can't make enough gas for its own people. >> in the absence of some positive response from the iranian government, the international community will consult about next steps and certainly next steps can include certain sanctions. >> reporter: and there's an apparent deadline looming. unless iran indicates that it is willing to talk by time president obama addresses the u.n. general assembly this september, officials say that the u.s. could begin to talk with its allies about those sanctions. suzanne? >> jill, we heard the secretary talk about possible next steps. do we have any clear sense what the administration plans to do? >> reporter: you know, it's remarkably unclear. because of the lack of clarity of what's going on in tehran, suzanne, and even pushing for these sanctions, nobody knows, you know, would the russians go along, would the chinese go

along, how at that point in another month from now would the iranians react. there are a lot of really unclear elements to all of this at a very bad time. >> okay. thank you, jill dougherty, state department. jack cafferty is in new york with "the cafferty file." what are you watching this hour? i've got two questions. the first one is who goes hooiking along the border between iran and iraq? >> very good question. >> morons. the obama administration -- now we'll get to the second one. the obama administration is not ruling out tax increases on the middle class, and this could be a huge deal. during the campaign, recall, candidate obama repeatedly promised the middle class would not see their taxes increase, quote, one single dime. in fact, he said he would cut taxes for 95% of all working families because, quote, in an economy like this, the last thing we should do is raise taxes on the middle class, unquote. fast forward one year. after bank bailouts, auto bailouts, the economic stimulus package, yada-yada-yada, the

president is trying to figure out a way to pay for all of this and health care reform while reducing the ever-growing national debt and deficits. there aren't a lot of choices here. you either raise taxes or you cut spending. white house press secretary robert gibbs today insisted the president will not break his campaign promise. but treasury secretary tim geithner and national economic council director larry summers both sidestepped questions over this past weekend about raising taxes on the middle class. and you can just bet their answers weren't accidental. geithner said they're not ready to rule out a tax increase to lower the deficit, and summers said that health care overhaul needs money from somewhere. quote, it's never a good idea to absolutely rule things out no matter what, unquote. the problem with all this is it's the president who ruled it out. remember? we all remember how former president george herbert walker bush famously promised, read my lips -- no new taxes. a couple of years later, he

raised taxes. that was the end of his presidency. he lost his bid for re-election to bill clinton after one term. so, that's our question. would breaking his word on tax hikes for the middle class make barack obama a one-term president? here's the hint -- probably. go to cnn.com/caffertyfile and post a comment on my blog. you wouldn't go hiking along the border between iran and iraq, would you? >> probably find a different place. the appalachian trail i hear is nice this time of year. >> ask the guy in south carolina. >> exactly. thanks, jack. michael jackson's mom gets custody of his kids. will she also get at least partial control over the pop star's estate? plus, the cash for clunkers program is running on empty. just as car sales are starting to pick up. should congress refuel the program with another $2 billion? and at least two dozen people are hurt when an airline hits severe turbulence. i drove my first car from my parent's home

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well, suddenly car sales are up and the cash for clunkers program is getting a lot of the credit from dealers and buyers alike. but the program is running on empty. should congress refuel it with another couple billion dollars? our congressional correspondent, brianna keilar, is looking into that. brianna, what are you learning today? >> reporter: well, suzanne, a pretty significant development. two key senators who opposed passing more money for cash for

clunkers because they didn't think the fuel economy standards were strict enough, have changed their minds. democrat dianne feinstein and republican susan collins are announcing as we speak that they will support this extension after an initial analysis by the obama administration showed consumers are trending toward higher fuel-economy vehicles than the law requires. christopher and mary were going to wait until next year to get rid of their 1998 nissan pathfinder, which gets 15 mile per gallon. then they qualified for a $3,500 rebate toward a new car under the government's cash for clunkers program. >> we just don't want to miss that, to miss this program. >> reporter: that sentiment is fuelling a boom at neil cooperman's toyota dealership outside new york city. >> the sales have picked up at least 50%, 75%. >> reporter: but it could be short lived p. >> massed without objection.

>> reporter: the house of representatives passed a $2 billion expansion of the program before adjourning for august recess last friday, but it's uncertain if the senate can do the same before it leaves at the end of this week. many republicans oppose cash for clunkers. >> the government should not be in the used car business, and this is just a great example of how badly the government manages things. >> reporter: some democrats have major reservations about extending the current program as is. senator claire mccaskill said on twitter -- the idea was to prime the pump, not subsidize auto purchases forever. for now, prospective buyers continue to be enticed. now, it's still unclear if other potential buyers will get the same opportunity, because the clock is ticking in the senate. it leaves for recess at the end of the week and it's still unclear if democratic leaders will be able to get the 60 votes they need to pass an extension of cash for clunkers. and what's more, suzanne, the

senate has a very busy week before leaving for recess. they're also scheduled to debate and vote on sonia sotomayor's appointment to the supreme court. >> okay, brianna. thank you so much. with business picking up, is it a time for the car industry to stand on its own four wheels, essentially? joining me now, transportation secretary lay rey lahood. thanks for joining us in "the situation room." obviously, some good news in this picture. ford, gm, chrysler all reporting dramatic increases in sales thanks to the cash for clunkers program. it seems to me as if you have done what you set out to do, this legislation, the program, you put a billion dollars into the program. these car companies are doing well. why extend it now? why more taxpayer dollars into this program? >> because this is what the american people want, and for the first time in two years ford has an increase in their sales. and this will continue for gm, it'll continue for chrysler, it'll continue for other car manufacturers if the program continues. and it will be a lifeline to the automobile industry, to american workers who manufacture cars,

and to our economy. if something is working, we should continue it. and that's the purpose of us asking the senate to put forth $2 billion the way the house did last week. >> a lifeline for the industry. but when does it become life support? when do you have to basically say you're on your own now, enough is enough of taxpayer dollars. now it's time for you to go ahead and make it on your own? >> this is part of the cure for the industry, and it's for automobile workers, also, and also salesmen who sell cars and also for automobile dealers who haven't seen people in their show rooms for months. and so, as we continue this program, we will know pretty quickly that this will be the lifeline that will save this industry for america and for the workers and for the car salesmen and for the automobile dealers. >> how will you know when the appropriate time is to cut off the funds? >> well, as we ramped up, we had no -- i mean, we were shocked at the number of people who came in the show rooms. and as people begin to buy

automobiles and continue to do that, we will know pretty quickly when the program has sort of run its course. i think we'll know that by the number of people who are in show rooms and the number of automobiles that are sold. >> how do you respond to some of those senators, obviously claire mccaskill, who says we simply can't afford more taxpayer dollars to extend cash for clunkers? the idea was to prime the pump but not subsidize auto purchases forever. >> well, we can't afford not to because the automobile industry is hurting, american workers are hurting, dealers are hurting. we know this has been a very strong lifeline. we want to continue that. we want to continue it through the month of august. we believe the $2 billion will continue to be helpful. and then, you know, congress can decide when they come back after labor day and we'll also have much better figures then, too, as to how much longer we should proceed. >> do you have any idea how long you think the $2 billion will keep this program going? >> we believe it'll take us through the month of august until after congress comes back

after labor day. >> obviously one of the goals, the main goals for the program, too, is the environment, protecting the environment, less carbon footprint, better gas mileage. you have these cars, we seef them at dealers, they put a mixture into the engine, destroy it. you've got the scrap metal. what happens to all those heaps of metal and what these cars once were? where do they go? how does that impact if the environment? >> yeah. the engine is killed so you actually kill the engine that's producing a lot of the pollution and the gas-guzzler engine is killed, but water pump, the brakes will go to a scrap yard and you'll have automobile dealers who are trying to find parts for different automobiles using the the brake parts or the water pump or the fuel pump. and so, the scrap dealer will make some money off of this, too. again, it helps the economy because the scrap dealer can actually then sell these off to dealers or car people that want to use them.

>> and real quickly, mr. secretary, the last go-round, some of the website -- the white house website it crashed, there were so many people who were interested. there was six hours of paperwork per vehicle for some of these dealers to process. what do you do the second go-round to make this better? >> our people were in delaware yesterday. we've hired citigroup to help us and oracle to help us as contractors to help us. they've hired additional people. we will have many more people processing these deals as they come through. and we believe there will be enough people and enough trained people to make sure we don't have the same kind of dilemma that we faced the first four days of the program. >> all right. secretary lahood, thanks for joining us on here on "the situation room." >> thank you. the mother of the man accused of carrying a fake bomb into la guardia airport defends her son. his mother says there is a reason behind his behavior. also, severe turbulence would be a nightmare even if it didn't happen in the middle of

the night, like it did on a continental flight. >> all the lightning, people that weren't seat belted hit the ceilings so, their faces, their heads hit the plastics and broke the plastics up top.

brianna keilar is monitoring the stories coming into "the situation room" right now. what are you watching? >> reporter: suzanne, severe turbulence slammed a red eye flight from brazil injuring at least two dozen people. the plan made an emergency landing in miami. >> and awl the plane just kind of, like, takes a dip and rises up, and you see people going off their seats, people screaming, little kids crying, people screaming, ow, please, help, i can't take it. and then even some of the flight attendants got hit. they have scratches on their faces. and luckily we had a doctor there so he could walk around and see how people were. and one lady, she just came out of her seat and flew over the middle row, hit her head on the wall, landed on her back like

this. she -- and there were, like, two seniors that were hospitalized. >> really scary stuff. and later, cnn's brian todd will join us with advice on what you should do if you ever find yourself in that situation. the mother of the man who prompted a shutdown of la guardia airport on saturday reportedly said her son suffers from schizophrenia. 32-year-old scott mcgann is accuse offend carrying a fake bomb into the airport. he is scheduled to undergo a psychiatric analysis before he goes to court on thursday. mcgann is charged with making terrorist threats and placing a false bomb in a transportation hub. they have her biography for sale in the gift shop, and now first lady michelle obama is an honorary chairwoman of the national first lady's library in canton, ohio. mrs. obama joins other first ladies on the board of the educational site, and library officials tell us, suzanne, they will post a michelle obama

curriculum plan on their website for the fall semester. interesting. >> we'll see what they're going to learn there. >> exactly. >> thanks, brianna. custody of michael jackson's children goes to his 79-year-old mother. will she also gain control over at least part of her pop star's estate? plus, uncle sam wants you if you're good enough and smart enough. a first-ever ad campaign to recruit army officers. and giant pythons. >> it's a large predator and they're eating basically everything in sight. can cost you some money. that's why you should consider... an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan... insured by united healthcare insurance company. it can help cover some of what medicare doesn't... so you could save up to thousands of dollars... in out-of-pocket expenses. call now for this free information kit... and medicare guide.

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you're in "the situation room." happening now -- an 18-year-old mystery is solved. the pentagon says remains have been found of the first american officer killed in desert storm in 1991. michael "scott" speicher was flying an f-18 hornet when he was shot down. and teenagers kidnapped and brainwashed. an amazing claim from some young boy who is tay is taliban was training them to be killers. i'm suzanne malveaux and you're in "the situation room."

as congress begins its august break, there is no break in the health care battle. lawmakers will be hearing it from both sides in the weeks ahead. our cnn political correspondent candy crowley joining us now. it doesn't sound, candy, like very much of a vacation. >> reporter: certainly not a fun one. i can tell you that. you know, the house has already left for august recess. the senate leaves at the end of the week. a month at home all brings to mind that old saying, be careful what you wish for. pennsylvania senator arlen specter took along hhs secretary kathleen sebelius to talk health care reform. here's a little bit from youtube. suddenly, the august recess seems pretty long. it was more sedate but doing rounds at a denver hospital, senator michael bennett did not sound like a man in a huge hurry

to pass health care reform. >> the more one gets into this, the more you see how complex a system it is. very important that we done create a bunch of unintended consequences that compound problems and struggles that people already have. >> reporter: august recess has begun for most capitol hill lawmakers who are headed home with one thing on their mind -- health care. actually, two things. >> members are always thinking about running again, so 2010 top of their mind. >> reporter: even those not up for re-election next year feel the heat of an august recess when a hot topic like health care is in limbo on capitol hill. senator kent conrad will do listening sessions across north dakota. >> what impact will that have on you? >> well, it would have a great impact. you know, i represent the people of north dakota. they're the ones that elected me. >> reporter: but bet your last dollar that august recess this time will have a lot more to do with talking than listening. >> i think it's also very important that people across the

country here, that the course we're on is not sustainable. >> reporter: on the house side, speaker nancy pelosi and republican leader john boehner sent talking points to their members, basically boiling down to two broad themes. >> big insurance companies versus socialized medicine. >> reporter: time is not on the side of democrats, many of whom wanted health care done before recess. the long escer the issue hangs there, the more it becomes a pinata. advantage, the critics. and those critics of obama-style reform say the more people learn about it, the less they like it, while supporters argue it's not that americans are learning more about reform, it's that they're learning erroneous things about reform. it really allows both sides to bat this will out in the abstract, make it easier for both to insist they're right. suzanne? >> they may, but we'll see how it goes the next four weeks or so. thank you, candy. while the health care battle heats up, let's bring in karen finney and tom davis.

thanks for joining us here in "the situation room." former president bill clinton in an e-mail to fund-raisers is weighing in on this now. i want you to hear this. he says it seems like the 1993 health care debate all over again, just as i did in 1993, president obama has run into a buzz saw of special interest opposition to his domestic policy priority, health care. simply put, they're at it again. is this helpful for president clinton to weigh in on the health care reform debate? >> i think it is because it reminds people what's at stake and that we've been this close once before or close once before only to see it attacked with misinformation. and august is really going to be a very critical moment in this campaign for health care reform. the grassroots on the progressive side and people who want real health care reform have really got to get out in august and make their voices heard. i think reminding people that we've been here before and we've let that moment slip away and we don't want to let that happen again is a good thing to do. >> congressman, it was a moment but it was a moment where they

failed essentially. is that a good idea for them to -- >> and they lost congress as a result of that. and at this point, you have strong sides for this and against it. it's really going to be decided among independent voters, many of whom have health insurance. so, the talking points as we go into august are going to shape the opinion of congressmen when they come back and have to vote on this in the fall. >> this is a spokesman for national republican congressional committee. he says it's nice they'll finally hear democrats admitting that her rerunning the failed hillary care playbook from 1993. do you think that the president, president obama, should he seek support or should he seek advice from president clinton or hillary clinton, who's sitting there right in his white house, when it comes to health care reform? >> i think they already did that in terms of looking at what went wrong and what went right in '93 and '94, and obviously rahm was there then and he's there again now. and again, i think it's not about to -- not surprised to hear that kind of a quote coming

from that side. what's interesting is actually the republicans are the ones who seem to be running the same old playbook, we're hearing the same attacks, the very same people lining up against health care reform, we're taking away your medicare and government-run health insurance. we have three government-run health insurance programs in this country, one that members of congress enjoy, one our veterans have access to and something called medicare and they paactually work pretty wel. >> congressman, running the same old playbook? >> no. the democrats are because it's one party. there are no republicans involved except in the senate. the senate offers some hope. senator baucus has sat down with some republican leaders trying to craft a bipartisan plan. ultimately, i think that's the only thing that will work publicly and politically. >> the problem there in part, because you have some republican senators making it clear they want to use health care to take president obama down rather than actually coming together to the table with new ideas. >> well, you also have democrats jumping on senator baucus for working with the republicans

because they think they don't want a watered down plan, they want to go all the way. >> how would you grade the obama administration on health care today? >> what's going to happen is at the end of the day can they pass it through both houses and get it signed, not until then. >> karen? >> a b. >> a b. >> this next month is critical because i think we'll win or lose frankly based on what happens in august. >> i want to bring in our internet reporter, abbi tatton, talking to viewers and giving them a chance to weigh in and grade the president themselves. abbi, can you explain how this is working? >> this is cnn.com/reportcard where voting is is now open opinion president obama's second hundred days. the voting is going on. on issue of health care it's not going too well for the president right now. the average grade that we're getting so far across a lot of the country is a "d." there's a couple of c-minuses in there elsewhere as well. this voting is still on.

the second hundred days is up thursday night so, vote here. let me show you how it's done. if you go here and say, ten different questions, say you wanted to give the president a "b" on health care, you would submit it here. you're going to add your state so you can be added to that map here. it's not just health care. it's the economy. it's how congress is doing, the voting still open now. the results, we're going to be bringing you thursday night 8:00 p.m. eastern. >> fascinatinfascinating, abbi. we look forward to that. also i want to bring up perhaps the final point here on this whole obama, professor gates, sergeant crowley, the controversy. professor gates weighed in, used some humor to try to defuse the situation when he talked about his own meeting at the white house, that beer summit last week. i want you to listen to what he said earlier. >> you know what? i like crowley, and i thought that we would like each other. and -- yeah. i don't know what we'll talk

about, but i asked him if he would have lunch with me one-on-one. i offered to get his kids into harvard. if he doesn't arrest me. >> hopeful or hurtful, his comments there, karen? >> helpful. it's showing he can move on and we can all move on and have good, productive discussions in our own lives. >> congressman? >> it's not helpful. it tears off an ugly scab -- class, culture, race, divided the country for some time. the sooner we get off this, the better for the administration. >> thank you once again. a final ruling for the children of michael jackson. one mom gets the custody. the other, visitation. and the obama administration stakes its claim in the higher tax debate. the old refrain -- no new taxes. but the addendum -- unless you make a certain salary.

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michael jackson's 79-year-old mother was granted permanent custody of his three children today. and she's also battling for at

least partial over his estate. let's go live to cnn's randi kaye. randi, what happened in court today? >> reporter: a lot happened, suzanne. there was a little bit of drama, actually, before anything really got under way. michael jackson's longtime dermatologist, dr. arnold klein, actually had a lawyer in court who told the judge that his client would like to have some influence on the lives of these children, have a say in their medical care and their education. and this really came out of nowhere, as you probably know, there's within a lot of talk about whether or not dr. arnie klein may actually be the biological father of these two children and regarding the custody of them, like i said, it came out of nowhere. he said to his knowledge he's not the father but he does admit that he did once donate sperm. he told that to cnn. so, he's really unclear at this point. the judge told his lawyer he could not have a say at the table and moved on to the custody battle. the judge did grant final approval on the deal that was reached on friday between katherine jackson, michael jackson's mother, and debbie rowe, his ex-wife. the two agreed that katherine

jackson would have custody of the children and that debbie rowe would have visitation. they're also going to consult a child psychologist. so, that seems to be done. we're also told that no money exchanged hands in that agreement. now, also, regarding the estate, that was taken up after about an hour and 40-minute discussion after both sides huddled, tried to work out some deals with the estate. but that didn't go anywhere. the main thing that happen sod far at this hour is that the judge told the special administrators of the estate that they would need to give katherine jackson this document that she had been requesting. she said that they've kept her in the dark on a lot of these documents and she wanted the agreement, the contract between michael jackson and aeg, the promoter of his final tour. she wanted to know what was in there. she wants a seat at the table. they did agree to that. she agreed to keep this document confidential and the special administrators will be handing that over to her. also, one last thing. katherine jackson's lawyer has

demanded that the estate, special administrators be deposed. she wants to make sure there aren't any conflicts of interest in terms of other dealings that they had. >> randi, did we learn about how much the estate is worth? >> reporter: that's a question really, and you get a different answer depending on who you ask. if you talk to len dell mcmilcm, katherine jackson's lawyer, about $2 billion, but those i've spoken to close to the dealings in the estate say it might be worth about $100 million with the potential, a lot of potential, given the record sales after his death and his book is being rereleased, his memoir. there's also talks of the concert footage from his rehearsals with aeg will be made into a movie and sold. there is a lot of potential there. speaking with an expert in the field, he says michael jackson may stand to be the biggest grossing performer of all time. >> okay. randi kaye, thanks for the update. uncle sam wants you. the pentagon is adding more troops and will need more

officers to command them. our cnn pentagon correspondent chris lawrence is joining us. how is the military reaching out? >> reporter: suzanne, in all its history, the army has never specifically advertised for officers until right now. >> an army officer learns to reach new heights. >> reporter: the army needs officers. and it's launching its first-ever ad campaign to recruit them. >> i'm not, you know, one to be a part of the army. >> reporter: the goal -- change the minds of college students like these. >> then i heard the commercials, then i thought about it more but it still wasn't enough. >> when they thought they were seeing just another army ad, they would shut it off immediately. >> reporter: so, an ad agency designed a new campaign targeting ambitious students and creative thinkers. >> mags and decisionmakers. >> reporter: some feature civilian corporate executives with experience as officers. >> we want to let people know that you don't have to stay in for 30 years and become a

four-star general to achieve great things. >> reporter: the army has a goal of getting 90% of its enlisted soldiers with high school diplomas. it missed that goal three years straight. and now the pentagon is adding more than 20,000 soldiers next year, meaning more than ever the army needs highly qualified officers to lead them. >> the environment is different today. >> reporter: major general arthur bartel says today's battlefield is so complex even junior officers are asked to make important decisions instantly. >> we need leaders who have the ability to look at a problem, solve that problem in a time-constrained environment. >> not in crisis mode yet, but they need to do a better job of marketing its officer product the same way it learned to sell the benefits of being enlisted. suzanne? >> okay. chris lawrence at the pentagon. thank you, chris. well, he disappeared 18 years ago. a fighter pilot. the first officer casualty of desert storm. the pentagon says they now know

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time now to check back in with jack cafferty. jack? suzanne, the question this hour -- would breaking his word on tax hikes for the middle class make barack obama a one-term president? b writes -- believing the fairy tale that the rich would be forced to pay for everything which the rest of america would then get for free. mike writes --

david writes -- >> bill writes -- mark writes -- when the recovery comes, it only makes sense that we all have to pay for it. biologists have not yet perfected a tree that grows money. if the voters won't respect that, then they'll get back the dumbed down government that we recently kicked out. and dave writes --

if you didn't see your e-mail here, i think he's talking about hillary, just a guess, if you didn't see your e-mail, go to my blog, cnn.com/caffertyfile, look for yours there among hundreds of others. >> okay, thank you, jack. we are counting down the second 100 days of the obama administration and this thursday night, we will issue a new national report card on the president. what kind of grades is he earning? you can cast your vote right now. go to cnn.com/reportcard and then get the results thursday night at 8:00 eastern. well, our cnn photojournalists are crisscrossing the nation talking to real people about real stories regarding health care, and some are finding heroes along the way. from southern california, cnn's gabe ramirez shows us the story

of a guardian angel sitting in a corporate office. >> my oldest son, christopher, was in a car accident on september 6th, 2007. he was driving his car and lost control, and suffered a traumatic brain injury with several broken bones. it was the scariest time of my life and to see him suffering like that was devastating. then to also have to worry about his care and is he going to get what he needs, will they just send him home because we don't have the financial means. huge things to have to think about. the insurance company sent me letters that chris could have something called a case coordinator. >> my name is pam hoyt.

i'm a nurse care manager at healthnet. debbie is a mom of five children. she was frightened. she didn't know if he was going to live or die. she didn't know what sort of aftermath they would be dealing with. >> there was a sense of relief that this person was actually trying to help me. was not trying to help her company find a way out of all these expenses. >> i would help her to be in control of his medical life and their family life. >> she seriously is a friend now. i would consider her one of my best friends. she really was genuinely concerned about my son's recovery. the day my son christopher came home from the hospital, he was totally different than he is now. he just couldn't do anything for himself at all. it was like having a big, heavy

19-year-old infant, you know. who was combative. >> how we doing these days? >> fine. >> feeling good? >> yeah. >> what point did you start, you know, remembering things again? >> yesterday. i remember yesterday. >> if you ask him straight on chris, do you remember this? he'll say no. but then if you're just talking about something that happened, he'll start talking about it with you, because the memory is there. >> he's come a long way in a year. >> a whole long way, yeah. >> chris? oh, god. you're making me cry. >> please don't cry. >> you are not. >> there were days where i just needed a shoulder, you know, and i knew i could call her. she has seen me through some of

my darkest days, that's for sure, and on to some much better ones. >> that story was done by photojournalist gabe ramirez. gabe says that chris is continuing speech therapy and may face more surgery, but he is doing well and hopes to attend community college. well, only on cnn, teenagers trained to kill, telling how they were stolen from their families and brainwashed by the taliban. plus, pythons, tens of thousands of the giant snakes, on the loose in florida and eating everything in sight. we'll take you to the everglades. you're in "the situation room." ( car door closes ) ooooch! hot seat! hot! hot! hot! time to check your air conditioning? come to meineke now and get a free ac system check. at meineke, you're always the driver.

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giant snakes weighing up to 200 pounds strangling and eating whatever they catch. tens of thousands of them may be on the loose in florida. cnn's john zarrella spent an evening with a python hunter in the everglades. >> reporter: joe wasilewski drives along a narrow stretch of road that bisects the florida everglades. night is coming on quickly. he's looking for snakes. one in particular. >> the next ten miles seem to be the hot spot for burmese

pythons. >> reporter: joe, a reptile expert, is one of a handful of men sanctioned by the state to hunt down and rid the glades of pythons. an extraordinary move in response to what scientists believe is a rapidly growing threat to the delicate ecosystem. >> it's a large predator and they're eating basically everything in sight. that's the problem. >> reporter: 20 years ago, there were none here. today, perhaps 100,000. no one is quite sure. night is the best time to catch these nonvenomous snakes. that's when they're on the move. wasilewski spots something. he jumps from the truck, runs to it. >> this is not a python. it's a banded water snake. you want to pick him up? >> reporter: do i? >> he'll bite you. >> reporter: an hour driving back and forth across the road, still no pythons. at least not alive. there's a dead one and several more small snakes. a baby alligator, too. >> oh, man. he got hit by a car.

>> reporter: two hours into our hunt, suddenly, wasilewski is on it. he sees one. >> yeah, baby! hey! look at the size of this one. >> reporter: skillfully, he grabs it behind the head. it instantly coils around his arm. he will lock the snake in a crate and take it to the national park biologists to be studies and destroyed. first we have to untangle it from his arm. >> this is a good ten feet. oh, yeah, at least. 12. >> reporter: he doesn't get paid. it's voluntary. while he knows they've got to be eliminated, he's got a soft spot for the reptiles. >> guess what? it's not the snake's fault. he didn't mean to be here. >> reporter: some are believed to have gotten here when reptile breeding facilities near the everglades were destroyed during hurricane andrew. >> why don't you take this side? >> reporter: no, you take this side. you take the head end. i got the back end. others from pet owners who

disposed of them when they got too big. they can grow up to 200 pounds. but this one is no longer a problem. >> one down. 100,000 more to go. >> reporter: john zarrella, cnn, the florida everglades. happening now, president obama's intentions for your taxes. he says no hike for the middle class. but two economic deputies say anything's possible. what should you believe? teenaged boys trained to kill, only on cnn. you will hear disturbing tales of boys snatched from their families and brainwashed by the taliban. one expert fears many are masking their violence behind a veil of teenaged innocence. the aftermath of a gut-wrenching flight. we will take you inside a plane that suffered turbulence so bad, some passengers feared the worst. what did it look and feel like? >> there were people cut, bleeding. >> i have never seen a turbulence like that. i really thought we wouldn't make it.

>> it was so bad. i was scared. all the people, so scared. all the people. >> wolf blitzer's off today. i'm suzanne malveaux in cnn's command center for breaking news, politics and extraordinary reports from around the world. reports from around the world. you're in "the situation room." -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com it's essentially been president obama's read my lips promise, no higher taxes on families making less than $250,000 a year. but are two of his economic deputies revealing something we don't know? listen very closely to presidential economic advisor larry summers and treasury secretary, tim geithner. >> it's never a good idea to absolutely rule things out, no matter what. >> we're going to have to do what it takes. we're going to do what's necessary. >> on the president's to do list, cut the nation's deficit

and afford universal health care. some experts say that might require raising taxes on the middle class. the white house is rushing to clarify what summers and geithner said. >> i think they allowed themselves to get into a little bit of a hypothetical back and forth. >> the white house says one thing as two administration officials say something else. so we're doing a reality check. ali velshi has that. first, let's begin with cnn white house correspondent, dan lothian. dan? >> reporter: well, suzanne, as you know, it's easier to tax the wealthy. when you look at the polling out there, most americans don't have a problem with it but when you start talking about potentially having to tax the middle class, then it becomes controversial and so we heard that there was, you know, the door was being left open for middle class americans to potentially become targets when it comes to tax hikes. as you point out, the white house trying to walk things back. take a listen to robert gibbs at

today's briefing. he again stressed the president's commitment to not raise taxes on americans making less than $250,000 a year. >> there is no real scenario there as the administration sees it where middle class taxpayers might be hit with a hike? there's no scenario right now -- >> the president has been clear, very clear. >> if someone said yes or no -- >> the president made a commitment in the campaign. he's clear about that commitment. he's going to keep it. i don't know how much more clear about the commitment i can be. >> reporter: on the campaign trail, mr. obama drew a line in the sand. >> you will not see your taxes increase by a single dime. not your income tax, not your payroll tax, not your capital gains tax, no tax. >> reporter: when asked if geithner and summers were testing the temperature by leaving the door open, gibbs said i don't know. essentially, you see the white house really trying to pour water on this, saying this was nothing more, we shouldn't read into this beyond what they said,

that the president really stands behind what he has always said in the past and again, we were also told that the president met with his economic advisors today, both geithner and summers were in that meeting, and he reiterated to them where he stood. sort of a way to clarify, if you will, where he stands on this. >> okay, dan, thank you so much. dan lothian at the white house. let's bring in our cnn chief business correspondent, ali velshi, for a quick reality check. how do you pay for the president's programs and reduce the deficit without raising taxes? how does that work? >> that's a several trillion dollar question. let me show you the budget that we have just come out of, the budget that goes from january to june of 2009, of this year. we took in, the u.s. government took in .986 trillion, from taxes and things like that. the u.s. spent $1.9 trillion. you can see, we spent nearly twice what we took in, creating a shortfall or budget gap of

$954 billion, almost $1 trillion short. if you look at the federal debt, that's every shortfall, every deficit, you add it all up and what we've got is a national debt that's $11.6 trillion. the net effect of continued national debt is that we pay interest on that, we have to print more money and the value of our money goes down, there's inflation. we're going to have to deal with that and the president said we're going to have to deal with that. at this point, there's no recipe for dealing with that. we continue to spend more than we bring in and if you say you're not going to raise taxes, we got to find some other way to make up for the money that's missing. >> if the president wants to avoid a ballooning debt by having a balanced budget, does he have to raise taxes on the middle class? is that the idea? >> you've got to raise taxes somewhere. we are so far away from a balanced budget, as you see, we are double what we would need, we are spending twice as much as what we need to do, none of the cuts that the president is proposing get us anywhere close to a balanced budget so a lot of thinking by many economists is that there's no way to get a balanced budget, stop running

deficits and reduce the national debt without raising taxes unless something very, very unusual happens and all of a sudden, all of us are making a lot more money and hence the taxes we pay don't have to go up in terms of percentages. but at the moment, most people think there's no way out of this mess without raising taxes in the long term. >> ali velshi, thank you very much. how would you grade the president's performance on the economy? well, this thursday, we take note of 200 days in office for the obama white house. cnn ananchors, analysts, many o you will grade the president on economy, foreign policy, other issues you care about. special coverage of this national report card this thursday night right here on cnn. in another reality check, we are helping you separate fact from fiction about the impact of the government's cash for clunkers program. let's bring in our tom forman. tom, tell us about this. has it helped automakers? >> i got to tell you, the real issue is how do you separate

fact from fiction on this. if you're somebody who got the deal on this, you were able to trade in a clunker and you managed to get $4500 off on a new car, you think it's a wonderful program. if you're an auto dealer getting more sales because of this, you think it's a wonderful program but let's take a look at what the numbers are for july compared to last july. ford motor company, this was a big deal, up 2%. that's kind of a big deal because ford has been struggling a good bit, as all the big ones have. hyundai up 12%. that's a big, big change there. the other ones, you may think this is bad news, gm is down 19% and that is not a good thing. they wouldn't like that. we've got toyota is down by 11%, if i remember properly, and then we've got down here chrysler down 9% and we've got honda down 17% down here. but suzanne, the important thing people have to bear in mind is even though these are bad numbers, the predictions were much worse so there's a sense that there's growth there, cars

being sold, they're very happy about that and obviously, those that have risen see a big boost and all to some degree say cash for clunkers brought people into the dealerships and even if they didn't have a clunker, some people bought cars any way because they got interested. >> it looks good, the numbers, but what happens next now? >> that's the big puzzle. nobody knows what happens next. the simple truth is they're selling cars, yes. they're selling cars because the government is helping to buy cars for people. if we don't get the extension of this which is being talked about right now, as you know, then the question is does this fall right back off a cliff. do we go into next month and all the same people who have people in the showroom now have people saying i didn't get in on the deal, the money ran out so i'm going to put it off again for two months, three months, four months, and it's not a done deal they will get an extension of more money and even if they do, what happens when that money runs out. the fact from fiction, we know the facts of the numbers. we don't know the facts of what really is triggering this and if it will last once this money

dries up. >> treasury secretary or rather, transportation secretary ray lahood said didn't quite know when that money was going to be running out and what kind of impact that would be. thank you, tom. jack cafferty is joining us this hour with "the cafferty file." jack? what are you following? >> women, it says here, make better bosses than men, so says carol smith, senior vice president at l media company. she told the new york times there's no contest that women are better advisors, mentors and rational thinkers and adds that male bosses love to hear themselves talk and that in some jobs, she has intentionally come late to meetings so she could miss the sports talk before they got down to business. some experts agree with her. they say women are more collaborative, democratic than men. also, they say women are more encouraging, less bossy, because people tolerate bossy women even less than bossy men. one former female executive says women give more straight talk than men and that many employees

complain about the feedback style of male bosses, calling it everything from harsh to evasive. but others say that women don't necessarily make better bosses. they find them less likely to take risk, say they're more emotional, which can be a bad thing. they say that women who make it to senior management positions wind up belittling other women as a way to prove their own superiority. one study shows that women report less stress if their boss is a man. research also shows that good managers usually exhibit more so-called masculine traits, things like autonomy and independence than feminine traits like warmth and sensitivity to what others need. here's the question. do women make better bosses? go to cnn.com/caffertyfile, post a comment on my blog. ever work for a woman? >> yes. but i like to think i'm warm, sensitive and independent all together. >> okay. i'll buy that. >> there you go. >> whatever you say. >> all those things.

thanks, jack. imagine you are resting on a plane and it violently drops. >> people that weren't seat belted in flew up and hit the ceiling, so their faces, their heads, hit the plastics and broke all the plastics up the top. >> some passengers are happy to be alive after suffering gut-wrenching turbulence. what can you do in a situation like this? well, they're young in age but old enough to kill. teenaged boys say the taliban trained them in terror. now an expert says some are psychotic and could be lurking anywhere. and going far versus crossing the line. with american hikers detained in iran, how far is too far when it comes to extreme tourism?

hillary clinton says she is concerned about three american hikers believed to be detained by iran. they were traveling in iraq's kurdistan region when they crossed the border and were surrounded by iranian soldiers. clinton is asking swiss diplomats to find out more. >> we want this matter brought to a resolution as soon as possible and we call on the

iranian government to help us determine the whereabouts of the three missing americans and return them as quickly as possible. >> the region of kurdistan is considered one of the safest in iraq and has emerged as an extreme tourist destination for adventurous travelers. let's go to our internet reporter, abbi tatton. the entire country is still under state department -- considered very dangerous. >> travel warning. still people are going there. we're not saying tourists are flooding the region of northern iraq, nothing like that, but adventure tourists are heading to parts of this region, drawn by a stunningly beautiful area around there. let's show you the area where these hikers were heading. this is the approach to the border with iran and this area just across from sulaymaniyah. when they got up there, this beautiful tourist resort town with waterfalls and this here, the photo along here, is the

area along the border, all shot by a local film maker. there are adventure tour companies that will take small groups there but they're saying they're not going this far, they're not going up to that border. we spoke to a british company that runs these extreme tour groups. they say that while they'll stay in the area of sulaymaniyah, which is at the base of this mountainous area away from the border, they don't go any further than that, and they are quite baffled as to why these travelers would go so far into this area that's just not that popular with western tourists. >> abbi, how experienced were these travelers that crossed the border? >> we just have to look at the website of one of them, shane bauer, a freelance reporter. if you look at where he has reported from, it reads like a state department travel warning list. syria, darfur, yemen. he is considered by colleagues to be a gifted arabic speaker as well, lives in the middle east. >> okay. they all have various

experiences. >> absolutely. seasoned travelers. >> thank you very much, abbi. now a story only you'll see on cnn. behind these masks should be light-hearted stories from teenaged boys. instead, these teenagers say they have been trained to be cold can-blooded killers, traumatized, some even say psychotic. one expert fears many could be masking their violence behind a veil of teenaged innocence. >> reporter: these are the lost souls of the taliban's terror. they were stolen from their families, abused, beaten and brainwashed by the taliban. the first day, they beat us you. then they made us exercise, they made us run and told us you will wage jihad. the pakistan military gave cnn limited access to these boys. the army says they rescued them during heavy fighting with the taliban in pakistan's swat

valley. their faces are covered, their identities protected because of the possibility of retribution. the youngest is only 13. we can't independently verify their stories, but doctors say they have no doubt about their trauma. the boys themselves each told me how they were kidnapped by the taliban. i was coming from the shop to my house, i had some stuff with me. they said put your stuff in the car. they said should we drop you in the village or in the square. when we reached the village, i said i want to get off here but they blindfolded me and put a hand on my mouth. other boys say they were snatched working in the fields. in militant camps, they say they were being trained to be suicide bombers. to do the taliban's killing. would you kill for god? yes, he says. in the right circumstances or the wrong circumstances, would they kill.

>> two of them wouldn't even feel it. >> reporter: they would kill them and wouldn't feel it? >> they probably wouldn't have an empathetic response. >> reporter: these boys have been so badly damaged by this experience, psychiatrists say, it's difficult to know exactly how they are feeling. the doctors say some are psychotic, some psychopathic and some pose a very real risk. >> he would have committed suicide. >> reporter: the doctor tells army chiefs they are just the tip of the iceberg. after talking to the boys, she believes there are possibly hundreds of others just like them. are the boys brainwashed? >> yes. they are brainwashed against you and me. >> reporter: but the doctor does not blame these boys. they are the innocent victims, she says. all they are left with, they tell me, are the voices in their heads. voices of the taliban,

commanding them to kill. these boys obviously face many, many years of treatment before they can even hope to rejoin normal society here in pakistan. the guns hopefully one day will be silenced but the torment will live on. suzanne? turbulence like few of us have ever experienced. injuries, dozens of passengers and forces this u.s.-bound plane to divert. we have new pictures of the chaos and damage inside. plus, what's the deal with these eye-catching outfits? details of what japanese researchers are calling the robot suit. insuring your family's ifs can be confusing, so metlife removed the guesswork. cop,ining two essential insurances, term life and disability in one surprisingly affordable package. strengthen your safety net and find out how affordable

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brianna keilar is monitoring the stories that are incoming to "the situation room" right now. what are you watching? >> reporter: the taliban bomb met its intended mark on a crowded street, critically injuring a district police chief. officials say the remotely detonated bomb killed 12 other people, including two of the chief's bodyguards, a 12-year-old girl and others walking near a fruit stand. the civilian death toll in afghanistan is up 24% this year. bank of america is getting fined for not telling the government about billions of dollars in bonuses awarded to

top executives at merrill lynch. the charlotte, north carolina lender will pay $33 million for misleading the government after it purchased merrill lynch. as much as $5.8 billion was slated for bonuses last year. they look like half e exoskeleton but the japanese say these suits can help the injured or elderly get around. they have sensors that help walkers move the way that they are thinking, if you can imagine that. the rental costs for one of these suits, $2200 a month. a fresh photo now released today by the white house gives a new view of what's been called the beer summit. this photo shows sergeant james crowley assisting professor henry louis gates down the steps of the white house out of the oval office at the rose garden. previously released pictures only showed the two men at a table with president obama and vice president joe biden. interesting to get a new view

there. >> a warmer look at the two men together. thank you, brianna. it was likely the most frightening plane ride passengers had ever taken. >> i was scared. all the people, so scared. all the people. >> a plane just drops unexpectedly. everyone is safe, but what should you do in a situation like that? and remains for the first american officer shot down in the gulf war is found. does this provide closure to his family or open up painful wounds? when you think about all you can do in an all-wheel-drive subaru... you'll find there is a lot to love. that's why we created the subaru a lot to love event. where you can get a great deal on any new 2009 subaru. and see theee really is a lot to love. hurry in and lease a 2009 impreza for $179 ppr month. now through august 31st.

their stories are frightening but at least they are alive to tell them. we are taking you inside a plane that ran into some severe turbulence today. one passenger says there were people whose faces were cut up and that it felt like a roller coaster ride. another says passengers not

wearing seat belts hit the ceiling. but what can you do in a situation like this? let's get more from our brian todd. >> reporter: well, suzanne, there's not much you can do if you're not strapped into your seat or buckled in. we're told the crew of flight 128 is being interviewed by investigators this evening but already, passengers and their pictures tell a harrowing story. this is what violent turbulence looks like inside the cabin. these photographs from a passenger aboard continental flight 128 show the ceiling of the plane split open. two sections you can see in this shot look like casings for several oxygen masks. one witness says this damage may have been done by passengers who were thrown upward. >> all the lighting and where the masks come down and everything, people that weren't seat beltd in flew up and hit the ceiling so their faces, their heads, hit the plastics and broke all the plastics up the top. >> reporter: the plane with 179 people aboard encountered severe turbulence on the way from rio

de janeiro to houston and diverted to miami. 26 passengers were hurt. some required at least temporary hospitalization. cnn meteorologist chad myers says there was no severe weather in the area at the time, and a continental airlines official now tells cnn this aircraft encountered what's called clear air turbulence. pilots we spoke to say this is when a plane gets caught between air masses moving swiftly in different directions. as the name indicates, it often happens when the weather looks fine and it comes on with virtually no warning. >> as the pilots are transiting this area, they're not seeing anything on the radar, they're not seeing anything visually that gives them reason to believe they're getting ready to penetrate an area with clear air turbulence. >> reporter: pilots say during these events, passengers not wearing seat belts can get severely injured when g forces throw them to the ceiling. they can stay pinned on the ceiling even for a few seconds, then could get injured by being thrown back down on to seats or the floor. now, after landing in miami,

some passengers said they got no warning to buckle their seat belts when the heavy turbulence began. continental said the seat belt sign was illuminated and their procedure is to give a verbal warning when that happens. a continental official just told me they are still gathering information but quote, there's every reason to believe a verbal warning was given in this instance. >> brian, is there any kind of clear take away lesson from this when you see that kind of video? >> we spoke with several pilots today. they say if you don't have to move around inside the cabin, stay seated with your seat belt fastened. one pilot told me the seat belts in planes are what he called g-stress, tested against several g forces. he says if your seat is bolted to the floor, you will stay in your seat. through some of the worst turbulence, if your seat belt is on and fastened. >> okay, thank you, brian. a bittersweet end to a mystery that haunted one family for almost two decades. the disappearance of a navy pilot shot down at the start of the gulf war. now remains found buried in the iraqi desert have been positively identified as those

of captain scott speicher. cnn's john zarrella is in his hometown of jacksonville, florida. john, how are people reacting today? >> reporter: well, you know, scott speicher's name is on this veterans memorial wall here behind me in jacksonville but until now, the community had held out hope that somehow, scott speicher was still alive. on an overcast monday in jacksonville, florida, people stood solemnly along a road leading from the naval air station, holding american flags, paying their respects as the hearse drove by carrying the remains of a marine corps private killed in afghanistan. >> we're here to honor this fallen hero. to let the family know that we care. >> reporter: in jacksonville, they continue caring, no matter how many years go by. for 18 years, they kept alive

the name scott speicher, navy pilot, shot down on the first night of the first gulf war, never knowing whether he was alive or dead. a banner still flies above a fire station. speicher's name is etched on a veterans memorial wall. beneath it, a yellow ribbon and a letter to his family. he will always be remembered, it reads in part. >> these would be the first gulf war as we call it. we didn't know that when this was put up there. >> reporter: bob buene knows the speicher family. in all these years, speicher's widow, joanne, talked only once to a national magazine. there's a reason, he says. >> she has focused on her family and kids and done a wonderful job of taking care of them and raising them as close to a normal situation as possible. >> reporter: joanne speicher remarried. the children now attend state universities. they were on hand when governor charlie crist signed legislation extending free tuition to children of missing soldiers and p.o.w.s from the gulf wars.

for the speichers, some questions still have not been answered. >> any information we can learn about what happened when he ejected and to the point to which he died, we think is beneficial. >> reporter: at arlington national cemetery, there is a headstone with speicher's name on it, where he will be buried has not been made public. but he has, after 18 years, finally come home. now that family spokeswoman told us the speicher family still does not believe he died in the crash, and the reason why, suzanne, is because they hired private investigators in baghdad and they believe they got credible evidence from those investigators that leads them to believe that speicher was captured after the crash. suzanne? >> thank you, john zarrella. never say never. president obama has pledged not to raise taxes on the middle class. but some top advisors aren't ready to make the same promise.

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well, it's going to be a busy contentious august break for congress. we're here with the best political team on television, gloria borger, candy crowley and joe john. carol costello will get the ball rolling on this. >> i'm sure most members of congress who left town on friday were hoping for a break from all that noise in washington. that's not exactly how it turned out for democratic congressman lloyd doggette of texas. here's what happened when he tried to hold a question and answer session on health care. >> just say no! just say no! >> oh, yeah. it was pretty ugly, especially if you were a blue dog democrat. the representative's office called the protesters a mob sent by republicans. but democrats aren't the only ones facing tough crowds. republican senator chuck grassley of iowa was confronted, too, recently.

>> why is your insurance so much cheaper than my insurance and better than my insurance? i should have the same insurance that you have. >> so it doesn't sound like it will be a quiet vacation for many members of congress. so what does this august recess mean for the health care debate? will republicans or democrats win on the battleground? we will ask our best political team here to tackle this issue. you have all dealt with congress and obviously, this is one of those rare moments, they get more than four weeks or so to deal with all of this. how productive is this? >> well, this is a time when you have a bill that's unfinished and by the way, unwritten. you have a whole bunch of bills in the house and the senate, you don't have one final version, and what you've got are people who have lived through pretty bad economic times. they're afraid that something's going to happen with their health care. they're not quite sure what, and they're also afraid someone's going to raise their taxes to pay for it. so they're angry. so you go home, you have

constituent meetings and they let you know what they're thinking about. >> angry people yelling at you, this type of thing, how does this translate into gee, i feel pressure, maybe i should vote or not vote for this? >> it depends, really, what district you're in and i suspect it will be interesting to go to some of the liberal democratic districts because on the left-hand side of some of these congressmen are people going wait a minute, what happened to the public plan, as they hear the senate might go for a co-op of some sort. i think they will all have trouble of some sort. do i think it changes minds? i think it informs things when they come back. but when you look at the democrats, they still have a vested interest in seeing that this president succeeds in some fashion. >> this stuff happens all the time. i mean, this health care story really goes all the way back to 1993, and when you asked that question, i almost laughed out loud because it brought to mind this memory of congressman dan rostenkowski, chairman of the house ways and means committee, who told a story of a senior

citizen jumping on the hood of his car and yelling at him. years and years ago. people get very impassioned over this stuff. they feel it and they don't understand it sometimes, and they're going to let their members of congress know about it. >> who has done a better job here of explaining this thing? has it been republicans or the democrats here? >> i don't think anybody's done a really good job of explaining it because it's a moving target right now. >> that's what makes everybody right. >> absolutely. >> they're talking abstracts so it's really easy to be right if you don't really know what's in it. >> at first the president said this will reduce the deficit, then the congressional budget office said maybe it won't, not so fast. so now he's changing and it's a big, bad insurance companies. the republicans are saying it's socialized medicine. take your pick. >> the quicker answer to that question is the democrats are on defense now. that's because a, it's just sitting out there and any time anything you want sits out there

and is batted around, it is not in your favor. >> they're a target in a lot of ways. this is a target for the democrats to defend, for the republicans to shoot down, but when you get out in the country and you talk to people, again and again, i hear from individuals who say i really want to do something about health insurance. i really want to make it so it's more affordable, so it doesn't get cut off if somebody gets sick. that's the bottom line. the question is how engaged those people are. >> that's why the administration has decided to take on the insurance companies now, because when you poll, the one thing people sort of agree on is that, you know, their insurance rates are going up and they don't like it. however, the insurance companies at this point are supporting reform. they don't like the public plan, but they're actually with the program right now. >> in the end, what you have is two sides of this debate. the evil insurance companies versus socialized medicine. that's how it all comes down. >> more on the other side of the break. mixed messages on a middle class

tax hike. is the obama administration opening the door, closing it or something else? also, your answers to this hour's question. do women make better bosses? jack cafferty has your e-mail. plus, a wedding video goes viral. now bring on the spoofs. insuring your family's ifs can be confusing, so metlife removed the guesswork. cop,ining two essential insurances, term life and disability in one surprisingly affordable package. strengthen your safety net and find out how affordable it can be at metlife.com.

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we're back with the best political team on television, carol costello brings you up to speed on why some are comparing president obama to first president bush. >> that's because of the six little words, suzanne. i bet no one remembers those six words better than the man who uttered them. then presidential candidate, george h.w. bush. >> read my lips, no new taxes. >> oh, that sounds painful now, doesn't it? that line came back to haunt

him, of course. so could president obama wind up making the very same mistake? that's what people are asking after some vague talk of the president's top economic advisors on whether taxes could be raised. larry summers said quote, it is never a good idea to absolutely rule things out, no matter what. and treasury secretary geithner said quote, we're going to have to do whatever is necessary to bring down the deficit. but what about those campaign promises? >> if you make less than $250,000 a year, your taxes will not increase one single dime. not your income tax, not your payroll tax, not your capital gains tax, no tax, because you need a break and that's what i intend to give you. >> more than six words but much more explicit. today, white house press secretary robert gibbs said the president is committed to not raising taxes on the middle class. of course, it's too soon to tell exactly how the president will pay for his health care plan so here's the question. what are the political implications for president obama

if he is forced to raise taxes? to our best political team, what's going to happen here? is this his read my lips moment? >> well, look, it's never great for any politician to raise taxes. have you ever met a politician who was thrilled about having to raise taxes? this administration -- >> walter mondale. >> but he lost. but he lost. you know, so this is an administration that is hemmed in because of the president's promise that 95% of the people, he's not going to raise your taxes. he's already proposed some tax hikes on the wealthy. he's going to repeal president bush's tax cuts on the wealthy. congress is trying to put a surtax on the wealthy for health care. they have to find a way to pay for health care reform and not add to the deficit. it's tough. >> has he boxed himself in? >> no, he hasn't boxed himself in because he will do what he has to do. it depends what you get for raising those taxes. if everybody gets great health care that they love, i suspect they would be happy but here's the problem.

when you put economists out to make political statements, when they really, you know, they should have backed off that. look, larry summers and timothy geithner are economists at the heart of it and they stated the truth. if you've got huge deficits, there's one of two things you can do to bring the deficit down. the economy just explodes and it's great and everyone has a job, or you raise taxes. so interesting, you heard a little dose of realism there. >> so you can automatically see the friction there. you have larry summers, these guys are looking at the numbers, they are trying to add them up, and they're just not adding up. on the other hand, the political guys over at the white house, you know as well as i do, are saying you start talking about raising taxes, you're killing us here. so there's a real challenge for this president. at the end of the day, a question as it was for president bush, a question of credibility. because even people on his own side will start ridiculing him for making a promise during the campaign that he was unable to

keep. that's the reason why people are so reluctant to start going down this road. >> does anyone even know how much this health care plan is going to cost? do we have an idea? >> well, you know, you know, th dollars. >> 900 billion. >> over ten years. we don't know. we don't know about this health care plan. there's like no plan. so where they get $1 trillion is a little beyond me, because like, well, what's the plan, then it seems you would add it up. >> don't forget, they are proposing new ways to control costs and it's very difficult to figure out how much you're going to save when it hasn't been done before. >> better for them to be vague or detailed at this time? >> better to be vague, you really don't know what's coming down the pike. you don't know what the congress is going to do and some people are saying right now, even democrats, wasn't the greatest idea to let the congress do this thing without a whole bunch of guidance because it goes all over. >> got to leave it there thank you, guys. lou dobbs what, are you working? >> suzanne, first of all, a

terrific question and a terrific answer. new controversy over the possibility the president may be planning to break a campaign pledge and raise middle class taxes it is a controversy driven in part, by two of the administration's own officials. we will have complete coverage. also tonight, rising outrage over the president's health care plan what ever that plan is as congressmen are returning home for their august recess, meeting with their constituents. we will ask the questions and members of congress so far have not asked and have refused to address. answers you will be interested in, i assure you. president obama also facing strong opposition that health care plan from his former doctor, dr. david shiner. dr. shiner is among my guests here tonight. and in our faceoff debate, we examine the president's sinking poll ratings. two leading pollsters, one republican, one democrat, join me. we hope you will as well. all that and more news coming up at the top of the hour. suzanne, back to you.

>> great to see you, lou. jack cafferty joining us again. >> do women make better bosses? darryl in houston writes, the answer is no women are the best co-work woulders, great teamliers, just great to work with, but this all changes when they are the boss. women have one major flaw in their character, emotions. as a boss, she will either be your best friend or your worst nightmare. and this is just monday and tuesday. it depends on how all the other relationships are going in her life. melissa writes, speaking as a woman i say no they don't. women by nature are cattier, even crueller in some ways than men. most women think they have something to prove so they are more aggressive because of it. cathy says very possibly they do but a blanket statement is never entirely correct. women are often more organized, better able to multitask than men. they can be much more sensitive to the underlying causes of problems. steve says, for the last seven years, i have had a boss who is a woman. she is not a big risk taker at all. she kind of goes with the flow, like a lot of women do. i'm married and it feels like i

have to cater to both of them all the time. julie in texas says, i think it's a sexist question. i wish everybody would finally accept the fact that there are women who are bad bosses, women who are good bosses, just like men. i manage 36 people. i've been told i'm a good boss. my husband on the other handiworked for a woman who only made emotional decision and was absolutely impossible to work for. ken says, i've been out of work for three years. right now, i'd be happy to have a coffee table as a boss. and graham writes, jack, your boss, man or woman, needs to find more for you to do. what are you snickering about? i heard that. >> have you ever had a female boss? >> yes, as a matter of fact i have. a couple of times. >> how did that work out? >> well, great. you know, i've got four daughters, i have had two wives. i love women. i get along just fine with women. >> well, that's great, jack. >> all right. >> one of your biggest fans. >> there you go. >> thanks, jack. most people kick up their heels at weddings. you may have even seen the

popular youtube video of a most unusual wedding pro-that made the rounds and now here's a flip side. the choreography is much the same but the setting is very different, it is divorce court and a giant dessert in india almost fills the wall in our hotshots when we come back, here in "the situation room." how easy it is to use legalzoom for important legal documents. at legalzoom, we'll help you incorporate your business, file a patent, make a will and more. you can complete our online questions in minutes. then we'll prepare your legal documents and deliver them directly to you. so start your business, protect your family, launch your dreams. at legalzoom.com we put the law on your side.

here's a look at hot shots,

pictures likely to be in your hometown newspaper tomorrow. children go to school outside after fighting the swat valley destroys their school. in mexico, police officers stand guard as the media are briefed on the leader of a drug cartel. in england, a paddle board instructor and student take a ride down a river. and in india, just put the finishing touches on this giant 59-pound dessert. that's look at today's hot shots, a picture's worth 1,000 words. we have to say it is inevitable. video of a very popular over-the-top wedding procession that took youtube by storm has now, after millions of hits, spawned a most unusual parody. here is cnn's jeanne moos. ♪ >> reporter: they just got married. just got married a few weeks ago and already they are dancing into divorce court?

there's the groom. here comes the judge. if this looks and sounds familiar, it is because you and more than 15 million other people have watched the original wedding dance video on youtube. real bride, jill peterson, and her groom, kevin hines, kick started their ceremony dancing it to "forever" by chris brown. the video was is such a hit, even to this toddler, the "today" show asked the bridal party to re-enact it. contestants on australia's dancing with the stars staged their own version. even a local news team got into the act. >> we have our own thing going on here. >> reporter: but now instead of groomsmen, lawyers are doing the dancing instead of bridesmaids. stenographers are kicking up a fuss in divorce court. do you think they will be

divorced in six months? >> no, we hope that they are together forever. >> reporter: max rosen produced the parody divorce court video for indigo productions using real dancers and actors and conan o'brien's cohoreographer. how long did you take to shoot it? >> we shot it in one hour. >> reporter: wow? in the real courtroom? >> in the real courtroom. >> reporter: i can't believe they let you in there the couple even stood on the furniture, pantomiming a fight. in the end, they make nice, with the newlyweds they are spoofing -- >> just kidding, guys. we love you. >> reporter: and talk about marriage, the original wedding dance video and the parody are now together forever. do you take this spoof to be your lawful wedded parody? jeanne moos, cnn, new york. >> we want you to check out our